At 7:30 this morning, it isn’t raining in Pigeon Forge but showers are expected to begin anytime now. The rain should increase as the day goes by. Showers and thunderstorms are predicted today and tonight. Showers are predicted everyday through Saturday. The streams are all up this morning because of the rain the past several hours. Little River is already at the level that it isn’t wise to be wading. Streams on the North Carolina side of the park received less rain than those on the Tennessee side, but are also on the way up. You may be able to wade and fish most of them today.
I will leave the following tip of yesterday’s report up for today. “If the streams do get high, I would like to mention something I have always had good luck with and when most anglers are waiting for the high water to get back down. When the streams first start to recede to get the water off the banks and back into the stream, ants and beetles are washed into the stream in large quantities and it doesn’t take the trout long to recognize what is happening. Find a clear area free of trees and bushed along the bank of a stream where it is draining water back into the stream and make size arm cast from the bank to present the fly near the bank such that it drifts back downstream near the bank to your position. I use our Perfect Fly Japanese beetle or our brown or black carpenter ants in this situation.”
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Smoky Mountain Stream Conditions:
The streams with links that have nearby USGS Station Real-time stream data: Click the links to see updates:
Little River: Rate 315 cfs at 2.37 ft
(Good wading up to 239 cfs and with extra caution up to 300 cfs)
West Prong Little Pigeon River (Gatlinburg): Rate 75.2 cfs at 3.23 ft (Good wading up
to 65 cfs and with extra caution up to 125 cfs)
Oconaluftee River: Rate 425 cfs at 1.77 ft, (Good wading up to 550 cfs and with extra
caution up to 850 cfs)
Cataloochee Creek: Rate 79.3 cfs at 2.51 ft. (Good wading up to 250 cfs with extra caution up to 300 cfs.
Hazel Creek and the other larger NC streams flowing into Fontana Lake:
The streams are all near a normal level.
Weather Forecast: (click the boxes below for more detailed weather information)
https://forecast7.com/en/35d71n83d51/gatlinburg/?unit=us
https://forecast7.com/en/35d48n83d32/cherokee/?unit=us
Trout Flies Currently Needed or needed very soon;
Streamers:
Brown Sculpin: 6
White Belly Sculpin: 6
Articulated Sculpin and Leeches: 4
Blue-winged olives: 14
nymphs
emergers
duns
spinners
Light Cahills: 14/16
nymphs
emergers
duns
spinners
Little Yellow stoneflies: 14/16
nymphs
adults
American March Browns: 12/14
nymphs
emergers
duns
spinners
Green Sedge Caddis: 14/16 (mostly Abrams Creek)
larva
pupa
adults
Sandwich hoppers: 12/10/08
Japanese Beetles: 14/16
Black Carpenter Ants: 16/18
Recommended Fishing Strategy:
Keep in mind, the strategies I am recommending is for the maximum odds of catching numbers of fish. Many prefer or favor a dry fly and by all means there isn’t anything wrong with that. It’s just a fact that if nothing is hatching at the time, it reduces your odds of success. You can still probably hook some trout, just not as many as if you fish subsurface. Of course, this is also based on using good techniques and the right flies. Some guys don’t know how to fish below the surface.
Strategy:
Not all of the insects you see above will be hatching in the same location. It is usually only one or two. It varies with the elevation. Some are just starting in the low elevations and some about finished in the higher elevations. If you fished the day or two before and know where something is hatching, fish the nymph or larva stage of it. If you haven’t fished the day or two before, until I spotted something hatching, I would fish the BWO nymph. If you spot something hatching (coming off the water), change to the appropriate emerger, dun or adult imitations of the insect.
Tips for Beginners:
Don’t let anyone intimidate you by contending that fly fishing is more difficult to learn and master than other types of fishing. It isn’t.
Thank you for visiting our website
James Marsh